TOPIC: N Modules Combat Tactics

Having had a few days to catch my breath, I wanted to say I really liked the N modules combat tactics.

Several things contributed to this that I wanted to call out in the hopes they continue:

1. Typed damage was common, and announced. There was tons of cold, and some other typed damage. It was usually announced by the DM without prompting. There was even cold damage in a puzzle room!

This really rewarded damage reduction tokens and abilities, which in turn was a very rewarding experience for folks who collected the Lamp of the Marid and Efreeti, Ioun Stone Violet Prism, Greaves, Ice Crag Hero's Earcuff, etc.

2. Rooms where multi-targets were in play. Both N2 and N3 had rooms with 2 monsters. This is really nice for Wizards who carry around Burning Hands and Lightning Storm which usually don't do anything special.

It also was nice for the party to have more tactical stuff to do, which 2 baddies helps with.

3. Rooms where melee was dinged, but not completely nerfed. Both N1 and N2 had a room where you had to spend 1 round to close ground with an elevated monster to do melee. I think N3 had this too but you could ground the dragon with one of the items.

I think this is a great way to incent more balanced builds without really nailing folks. Melee is still the best, but if you figure you'll miss 1 round of combat in 1 room in 3, you at least have to think about it!

4. AOE damage was prevalent. This really hit the sweet spot for challenge.

I hope though, that on normal, it's a bit toned down (I did 2x Hardcore and 1x Epic this year).

5. Saves really mattered. In several rooms the monster did something on multiple rounds that caused a save effect for the party to avoid a nasty penalty (basically you couldn't attack for 1 round).

This is an awesome way to encourage build balance and avoid just dumping everything to boost STR - I hope it continues. This was a huge upgrade for me from the past where basically there would be 1 save per dungeon that mattered.

6. Slightly puzzling aspects in combat rooms.

I loved that you could dump ashes on the Rakshasa, and that there was a mini-puzzle vs. Smoak Jr. with all the various items that you could use to debuff it.

I hope this continues, so that you stay on your toes during downtime in combat rooms between rounds.

7. I appreciated the quality of life improvements in the combat rooms:

* Tables with rolling wheels that are easier to get in and put away.
* The lighted slider catchers
* The awesome jumbo sliding board with "sand trap" back end for the N3 boss.


I have only two points of constructive feedback:

a. All three dungeons had 3 combat rooms (I guess you could say N2 had 3 and 1/3 if you count sliding to hit the Valkyrie's shield). This means basically all three dungeons were "puzzle" dungeons.

Given that the "combat" dungeons have historically been in higher demand than the puzzle ones, I hope we see some 4 combat dungeons in the future.

b. Only one dungeon had a combat room as the final room. A lot of players keep some powder dry for the last combat - N2 in particular was a surprise here with the last combat being in room 5. I cashed in ~100 points of consumable healing in N2 room 6 getting ready for the last room - whamp-wah...

I hope we see 1/2 to 2/3rds of dungeons ending in combat in the future. Or, if not, I'd appreciate some clue from either an NPC or dungeon design that a given combat is likely the last one so people pull out all the stops.

Matthew Hayward wrote: Having had a few days to catch my breath, I wanted to say I really liked the N modules combat tactics.

Several things contributed to this that I wanted to call out in the hopes they continue:

1. Typed damage was common, and announced. There was tons of cold, and some other typed damage. It was usually announced by the DM without prompting. There was even cold damage in a puzzle room!

This really rewarded damage reduction tokens and abilities, which in turn was a very rewarding experience for folks who collected the Lamp of the Marid and Efreeti, Ioun Stone Violet Prism, Greaves, Ice Crag Hero's Earcuff, etc.

2. Rooms where multi-targets were in play. Both N2 and N3 had rooms with 2 monsters. This is really nice for Wizards who carry around Burning Hands and Lightning Storm which usually don't do anything special.

It also was nice for the party to have more tactical stuff to do, which 2 baddies helps with.

3. Rooms where melee was dinged, but not completely nerfed. Both N1 and N2 had a room where you had to spend 1 round to close ground with an elevated monster to do melee. I think N3 had this too but you could ground the dragon with one of the items.

I think this is a great way to incent more balanced builds without really nailing folks. Melee is still the best, but if you figure you'll miss 1 round of combat in 1 room in 3, you at least have to think about it!

4. AOE damage was prevalent. This really hit the sweet spot for challenge.

I hope though, that on normal, it's a bit toned down (I did 2x Hardcore and 1x Epic this year).

5. Saves really mattered. In several rooms the monster did something on multiple rounds that caused a save effect for the party to avoid a nasty penalty (basically you couldn't attack for 1 round).

This is an awesome way to encourage build balance and avoid just dumping everything to boost STR - I hope it continues. This was a huge upgrade for me from the past where basically there would be 1 save per dungeon that mattered.

6. Slightly puzzling aspects in combat rooms.

I loved that you could dump ashes on the Rakshasa, and that there was a mini-puzzle vs. Smoak Jr. with all the various items that you could use to debuff it.

I hope this continues, so that you stay on your toes during downtime in combat rooms between rounds.

7. I appreciated the quality of life improvements in the combat rooms:

* Tables with rolling wheels that are easier to get in and put away.
* The lighted slider catchers
* The awesome jumbo sliding board with "sand trap" back end for the N3 boss.


I have only two points of constructive feedback:

a. All three dungeons had 3 combat rooms (I guess you could say N2 had 3 and 1/3 if you count sliding to hit the Valkyrie's shield). This means basically all three dungeons were "puzzle" dungeons.

Given that the "combat" dungeons have historically been in higher demand than the puzzle ones, I hope we see some 4 combat dungeons in the future.

b. Only one dungeon had a combat room as the final room. A lot of players keep some powder dry for the last combat - N2 in particular was a surprise here with the last combat being in room 5. I cashed in ~100 points of consumable healing in N2 room 6 getting ready for the last room - whamp-wah...

I hope we see 1/2 to 2/3rds of dungeons ending in combat in the future. Or, if not, I'd appreciate some clue from either an NPC or dungeon design that a given combat is likely the last one so people pull out all the stops.

if you remember, combat vs puzzle dungeons had TWO different rooms. this was often (usually?) 4 combats in the combat dungeon, and only 2 combats in the puzzle dungeon. so, 3 combats should be expected.

kurtreznor wrote: if you remember, combat vs puzzle dungeons had TWO different rooms. this was often (usually?) 4 combats in the combat dungeon, and only 2 combats in the puzzle dungeon. so, 3 combats should be expected.

I've run puzzle once in the last 5 years... so I guess I'm wrong about that.


In any case, I'd like there to be at least the occasional dungeon with 4 combat rooms.


Perhaps Jeff's branching rooms ideas could be introduced here to allow for more combat for those so inclined,.

I generally agree with everything said. Combats were great, but I’d prefer 2 out of 3 to have a big boss for Room 7.

Kirk Bauer wrote: I generally agree with everything said. Combats were great, but I’d prefer 2 out of 3 to have a big boss for Room 7.

Agreed, I'm always a little disappointed when we hit room 7 and there isn't a wicked cool anamatronic. I'd be fine with the room itself being a puzzle or puzzle/combat hybrid, or best case a choice between puzzle and combat, but I love the spectacle of a big boss even if it's just for show.

Like Picc said.

I’d like to see combo rooms, like N2.1, where you can slide or puzzle. My voice gets raw by the end of the weekend, so I’d rather avoid screaming if at all possible.

E.g. you enter room 7 to find the monster asleep in one corner, and an arcane gnomish device in the other. You can try to activate the machine (by solving a puzzle, of course) to disintegrate the critter, or just wake it up and beat the snot out of it.

N3.7 had elements of that. That’s part of what made it cool.

There wouldn’t really be the need to run it twice because you’d see both options, and if you kill it fast enough with one option the DM would surely let you fiddle with the other.

I suppose that’s like a branching room, but it doesn’t have to literally be two physical rooms.

Not my idea, but I forget who all has brought it up over the years.